Swivel attachment-plug.



C. J. ALPAUGH.

SWIVEL ATTACHMENY PLUG.

APPLICAUON man MAR. 22, 1915.

CLIFFORD JAMES ALPAUGH, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY. ASSIGNOR UG '232. 1'TONELECTRIC AND CONDUIT COMANY, QF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

TION OF NEW JERSEY,

il.. CORPCM;

SW'IVEL ATTACHMENT-PLUG.

Application filed March 22, 1915.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

vBe it known that l, CLIFFORD J. ALPAUGH,

a citizen of the United States of America,

and residing at Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State ofNew-Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SwivelAttachmert-Plugs, of which the following is a specification, such aswill enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

My invention relates to attachment plugs `for flexible electricalconductors, and the main object thereof is to provide such plugs ofswivel form whereby they may be screwed into a socket, lamp or otherdevice, without twisting or disturbing said conductors in the least. lamaware that several different types of such yplugs have been made andmarketed, but my plug differs from any known to me because of the greatsimplicity thereof, inasmuch as it consists of but two elements readilyconnected to and disconnected from each other without the use of a tool.Another distinction resides in the fact that these two elements are onlyheld together by friction which, however, permits free revolution of oneelement upon the other. A further distinction is that, when the threadedelement is screwed into a socket, this operation locks said elementsagainst any possibility of separation, despite the fact that theconductor carrying element is merely telescoped into the threadedelement, and readily separated therefrom. Andl further distinctionsexist in the ready accessibility of the conductor binding screws,whereby the conductors may be connected with the plug in a neat andworkmanlike manner, and in the fact that the said conductorconnectionsare entirely concealed and fully protected, despite the factthat the plug consists of but two elements.

My invention is fully described in the following specification, of whichthe following drawings form a part, in which like reference charactersrefer to like parts in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is aside elevation of a swivel plug constructed in accordance with mypresent invention; Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;and Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

'In the drawings forming a part vof this application l have shown apresent preferred specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lllec.. il'lii.

Serial No. 16,068.

form of embodiment of my invention, comprising a conductor carryingelement fi and a screw-threaded element 5, the former of which has thetwo conductors 6 and T connected'therewith, and the latter of whichcarries the screw-threaded shell 8 of the conventional form and which,as will be understood, is adapted to be screwed into a similarlythreaded socket, such as a conventional lamp socket.

The element l consists of a head 9 having ahdependent, cylindrical,member 10 of less diameter than said head, the member 10 being recessedat 11 and 12 at diametrically opposite sides to provide seats for plates13 and 14., respectively, provided with binding screws 15 and 1G,respectively, for the respective conductors 6 and 7, and it will benoted that said conductors and screws are contained entirely within theperiphery of the dependent member 10. The plate 13 is eX- tended beneaththe element i in order to provide a connection with a screw 17 passedinwardly from the forward end of said element and serving as the centralcontact of the plug, a washer lvbeing employed to reinforce said screwat its head.

rlhe plate 14 is bent at right angles to form a contact 19 adapted tobear on the screwthreaded shell 8 when the elements are in operativeconnection, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and 'l may employ a` screw 20 tomaintain the same in position, said shell constituting, as inconventional plugs, the other socket contact of the plug.

rThe element 5 is provided with a larger bore of the approximatediameter of the dependent member 10, whereby, when the elements are`ioined, a frictional engagement results therebetween of sufficientstrength to prevent the accidental separation of the elements, but notso strong as to prevent rotary movement of the element 5 with respect tothe element -l; said element 5 is also provided with a smaller bore forthe passage of the conductors 6 and 7, as is clearly illustrated in Fig.2, said conductors being shown as'sheathed in the drawings, and I will,although not shown, prefer to tape said conductors together between thesheath thereof and the clement 4f to maintain the same in relativepositions. Boththe elements 4 and 5 are made of insulating material, theformer beingil made of porcelain if desired, and the latter of what 1stechnically known as composition, being preferably molded into thescrew-threaded shell 8; if of these materials, it will be observed thatthe relatively soft composition A adapts itself to the inequalities ofthe relatively hard and brittle porcelain, as it would 'be practicallyimpossible to insure the snug 'to any specific materials, as manysubstitutes for the above may be employed and connections with theelement 4 are be just as efficient, but the above materials resultan avery inexpensive plug and serve the purpose fully as well as more costlymaterlals.

It will be seen, by reference to the dotted lines in Fig. l, that theelements may be manually separated, the element 5 being drawn ofi' theelement 4 and backwardly on the conductors, thus giving easy and instantaccess to the binding screws 15 and 1G for conductor connection ordisconnection, and it will also be seen that, when the elements are inoperative connectiom'the conductor entirely concealed and fullyprotected against shortcircuiting. Further, when the elements are inoperative connection and the element 5 is screwed into a socket, noseparation of the elements can possibly occur, the element 5 -thefollowing claim, what I claim as new,

and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

An attachment plug comprising a male member and a female member inrotary and f yfrietional engagement, said male member being providedwith a shoulder for limiting its inward movement and with grooves onopposite sides thereof, a conductive screw passed through the length ofsaid male member, a conductive plate held by said screw and bent to restin one of said grooves, a binding screw on saidV plate, a supplemental.conductive plate held in the other groove'andl'ient outwardly toproject over the outer end of said female member, a binding screw forsaid supplemental plate, and a screw threaded sleeve on said femalemeinber inwardly flanged over the outer end thereof to provide ilconductive bearing surface, for the bent portion of the supplemental'conductive plate in the rotation of one n'ieniber With-respeet to theother.

In testimony that I claim th` foregoing as my invention l have signed mynaine in presence of the subscribing witnesses this 15th day o'f March1915.

CLIFFORD JAMES ALPAUGl'l',

Witnesses:

JAM'rs J. A. TALLoN, Gnome B. Marin-:ws

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